[Lnc-business] LPedia

Wed Jan 4 19:15:51 EST 2017

It is my intention to enable the rebirth and ongoing use of LPedia. I
believe it is a valuable resource. I am a contributor myself (I used
scan and OCR method to translate old platforms into plain text). I think
it is of the utmost importance to preserve the institutional knowledge
of the party. 

LPedia is dormant because the spam-killing bot is a little
over-aggressive and kills legitimate content. When I posted the
transcription of old platforms, the spam-killing bot kept eating it. In
fact, I think the 1984 platform has once again been eaten by the
spam-killer. It's extremely frustrating and makes it practically
unusable. It certainly discouraged me from adding any more content. 

LPedia needs to be fed and cared for. And a motion to that effect will
be coming separately. Right now we're just solving the technical
back-end. The actual use is another issue. 

I just wanted to be sure that everyone is okay with this.I realize that
less than $500 in a budget the size of LP National is kind-of silly. I
wanted to make sure there were no objections. Yes, this is the
overly-cautious approach. :) 

Once this move happens, I would encourage everyone to check out the
reborn LPedia and contribute! 

ken 

---
Ken C. Moellman, Jr.
LNC Region 3 Alternate Representative
LPKY Judicial Committee 

On 2017-01-04 18:05, Joshua Katz wrote: 

> Thanks for this explanation. I see now that my question was not well-designed to get the result I wanted. Let me be more direct. From what I see, the suggestion is to change hosting companies, not change anything else except what must change as a result, and pay less. I don't see any reason anyone can object to that, and if that's the long and short of it, I have no feedback other than "sounds great and thank you so much for figuring this out." 
> 
> I have no intention of venturing into the technical side of this, but I see one question to ask from the business side. The story I told above doesn't include the fact that the asset has been sitting, unused, for quite some time, and that we intend to change the way it works on the "inside." Do we lock in for a long time to get that hosting package, and if so, does that interfere with the range of things we could wind up doing with the inside? 
> 
> Joshua A. Katz 
> 
> On Wed, Jan 4, 2017 at 8:09 AM, Ken Moellman <ken.moellman at lpky.org> wrote:
> 
> The current LPedia site is hosted on the same hosting account as our old (2008-2016) LP.org website. Co-hosting with the primary LP.org has presented issues of control. There has been a (valid) reluctance to let non-staff manage LPedia because it may create security issues for sites co-hosted on the same account. By splitting LPedia into its own hosting account, that problem is resolved. (Also, the final destination for LP.org will make co-hosting impossible anyway.) 
> 
> Additionally, the new hosting company will update the software for us, and will help us fight the spam. This is a huge benefit. The hosting company is suggesting two different approaches: either lock down LPedia to to which we grant access, or use spam-fighting tools to help stop the spam. There's a balance to be struck here, but I don't want to make the decision on which way to go. The point is that we have options.
> 
> From a budget perspective, we're going to save money overall. Today we have 3 line items related to various versions of LP.org. 
> (1) The "Softlayer" line item is for LP.org as it existed from 2002-2008 and still hosts our email today. We pay about $800/mo for this. We can replace this service for far less; it will likely be between $40 and $250 per month, depending on the solution.
> (2) The "Rackspace" line item is for LP.org from 2008-2016, and also holds LPedia. This is about $1000/mo.
> (3) The current web hosting is also about $1200/mo as it stands. I'm not sure where this will end up once it gets re-implemented, but I assume it will be about the same.
> 
> So we're looking, overall, at reducing budget from about $3000/mo down to approximately $1500/mo. Don't hold me to these figures just yet; there are still decisions to be made. The goal here is to provide better service at a lower price. I think that goal is attainable. 
> 
> In response to Mr. Katz's question about required LNC action, the Policy Manual outlines the following: "Nothing in this policy should be construed as requiring staff to consult with this Committee for routine changes or any changes that are not expected to have an effect on the way HQ deals with any affiliate." I believe that this change falls under this category, but because we're changing how things are sliced up, I wanted to make sure that the LNC was okay with this move before just doing it. I am not one to operate in an "ask for forgiveness" mode. I'd rather make sure that everyone understands what's happening, and we agree to take action. 
> 
> I'm also currently working on a motion to bring forth to create a committee responsible for maintaining LPedia and all historical documents of the party. I haven't made this motion yet, because I want to be sure that this motion is crafted properly; providing control for these invaluable assets but with checks-and-balances to prevent unwarranted destruction of them.
> 
> ---
> 
> Ken C. Moellman, Jr.
> LNC Region 3 Alternate Representative
> LPKY Judicial Committee 
> 
> On 2017-01-04 01:45, Starchild wrote: 
> 
> Nearly 2 years ago (Feb. 15, 2014), I posted to the LNC list (in part): 
> 
> There is the makings of an excellent Libertarian Party historical archive in the form of a wiki specifically devoted to the party, at LPedia.org [1]. The site is apparently owned by the LNC (see http://www.whois.com/whois/lpedia.org [2] ). Since LPedia.org [1] remains online, we presumably continue to pay for web hosting, but the site has not been updated since 2008 -- the most recent entries generally appear to be spam (see http://www.lpedia.org/Special:Recentchanges [3] ) -- and I have been unable to log in or create a new account. An email I sent a couple weeks ago towebmaster at lpedia.org has gone unanswered. 
> 
> This resource has received a significant amount of web traffic (see http://www.lpedia.org/Special:Statistics [4]), but it appears that it is being totally wasted. Does anyone know anything about this? Robert Kraus's name is listed as Admin. 
> 
> At that time, I had not heard anyone else in the party leadership talking about it; I discovered the site and raised the issue on my own. I haven't heard what we are paying for what definitely has been a "neglected asset" - can someone supply that information, and where the expense appears in our budget? If we can keep the site while saving money that's a good thing, all else being equal, but hosting is not to my mind the only hurdle to overcome in terms of making it a functional asset. 
> 
> From what I can see, the basic issue is that staff doesn't have time to tightly administer the site, but there has been a reluctance to release our grip on information enough to make it fully functional (allow everyone, or at the very least LP members, to edit it as readily as one can edit Wikipedia) _without_ a big investment of staff time. 
> 
> Ken, does the approach you are talking about here address this problem? If so, how? Please be specific. 
> 
> Love & Liberty, 
> ((( starchild ))) 
> At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee 
> (415) 625-FREE 
> @StarchildSF 
> 
> On Jan 3, 2017, at 10:10 PM, Caryn Ann Harlos wrote: 
> As you all know, I have been the one really pushing for the LPedia issue and I spoke with Ken at length about this, and I am satisfied with this and in fact more than satisfied. And from what I understand it is a cost savings from what we were paying for this neglected asset, and it becomes a functional assert. 
> 
> I thank Ken for his hard work and diligence on this. 
> 
> On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 10:46 PM, Ken Moellman <ken.moellman at lpky.org> wrote:
> 
> All -
> 
> After discussion with Sean and staff, we believe we have found a good, long-term solution for LPedia. We have found a hosting company who has offered to host LPedia for less than $500/yr. This solution is a corporate plan with a Virtual Private Server with DDOS protection. They offer advice on best practices as well as services to help block the spam that has plagued LPedia. Best of all, the solution includes support. So, if LPedia has a problem, there's a number to call to get it fixed.
> 
> This fixes the technical problems with LPedia and moves us towards our goal of saving the party money. 
> 
> I wanted to give the LNC the opportunity to object to this move prior to pulling the trigger. If you have any questions, please let me know. 
> -- 
> Ken C. Moellman, Jr.
> LNC Region 3 Alternate Representative
> LPKY Judicial Committee 
> 
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> 
> -- 
> 
> IN LIBERTY, 
> CARYN ANN HARLOS 
> Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann. Harlos at LP.org 
> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado [6] 
> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus [7] 
> 
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Links:
------
[1] http://LPedia.org/
[2] http://www.whois.com/whois/lpedia.org
[3] http://www.lpedia.org/Special:Recentchanges
[4] http://www.lpedia.org/Special:Statistics
[5] http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
[6] http://www.lpcolorado.org/
[7] http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/
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